Just how many times did I say "hello" today? I asked myself that question recently in Cambodia (where we are currently cycling). We have been greeting warmly everywhere in this country, but while cycling the tiny roads and paths along The Mekong, the greeting got intense.

In my column, Fine Tuned, in the latest issue of Adventure Cyclist, I mentioned the difficulties of getting a rack on a fat bike that has 170mm rear dropouts. Here's a testament to how quickly fat bike technology is moving forward: Not long after I submitted my article, Salsa Cycles went ahead and released the new Alternator Rack Wide for their Mukluk fat bike.

Xenia, Ohio, a town of 25,000 is a suburb of Dayton with two bike shops, a community library, multiple restaurants and camping at the fairgrounds. It would make a great stop for a layover day or two to soak up Underground Railroad history and pedal some miles in the surrounding countryside.

The smell of wood smoke is in the air along with the squeals of little pigs darting across the road. The roads had wound up and down for days (500-foot to 2,000-foot climbs all day long) as we crossed from one river drainage to the next. There were no restaurants or stores to be found, so we asked a local if she would cook us breakfast. She held a newborn in one arm as she fried up spicy eggs with greens and sticky rice over a wood fire. We kept glancing up to see dozens of kids peeking in to see the foreigners. We emerged out into the brilliant blue sky of the highlands of northern Laos.

I know what you're thinking -- there are a lot of commas in that title. Just know that they're there for emphasis. You might also be thinking about creating videos on your bike tour and posting them to your web log, or "blog" as the kids call it these days. Well great! That's why we're all here. You've learned how to make a bicycle touring video, you've learned what tripods to use, and you've learned the art of storytelling thanks to the other bloggers and judges so far.

When the three young men featured at the start of Tom Allen's new film, Janapar, set out on their round-the-world bicycle tour, Tom's voice-over says something to the effect of "there is something out there ... we want to create meaning in our lives." Quickly the challenges of the road and the beauty found alongside it begin to carve that meaning, chucking artifice aside until the group splinters and each man goes his own way. We then follow Tom into the desert, into a woman's life, into his existential thoughts on exploring the world by bike, without a road map.

Adventure Cycling Association is excited to announce the winners of its 2012 Bicycle Travel Awards! The Bicycle Travel Awards celebrate the individuals and groups making bicycle adventures possible. Support can come in a myriad of forms, from route creation to a hot shower, and these awards are Adventure Cycling's way of saying a big, collective ‘THANK YOU!’

We had a great year here in the Adventure Cycling Tours department. More rides, more participants, and more great times! And although those of us stuck here in the office didn't get to be on the road for every tour, the amazing pictures shared by participants made us feel like we were.

Myanmar is in the news. It is ranked as one of the top five travel destinations by several major publications. President Obama became the first US president to visit while in office. Makes you want to take a bike trip there, doesn't it? We did. We toured Myanmar (Burma) from October 21 - November 21. We brought our own bikes … and lots of cash. We enjoyed. A lot. The people of Myanmar are the most genuinely friendly people on the planet. How do we know? We brought our friendly meter, and it maxed out beyond “uber-friendly”.

In his October/November 2012 Adventure Cyclist " Letter from the Editor", Mike Deme responded to correspondence he had received from Gillian Hoggard, our 2006 Trail Angel Award winner. Gillian was writing to withdraw her name as a "Cyclists Only Lodging" on the TransAmerica Trail due to a string of bad experiences. Based on my observations in general — so, not scientifically speaking — over the last couple of years, to varying degrees, we have had an increase in the number of complaints about rude cyclists.

I sincerely apologize for the foolishly stated words in my column from the December/January issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine. These were my own words entirely and do no reflect the views of Adventure Cycling Association.

I glanced back, squinting into the blinding snow, to make sure Bill was still riding behind me, the snow was getting heavier and visibility was much worse than when we had started earlier that day. But there he was, right on my tail with the biggest grin on his face. The riding was wonderfully quiet with a fresh two inches on the ground and piling fast. "This is awesome", I heard him say, as my Surly Nates made fresh tracks. I couldn't help but laugh.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, winter means lots of rain. As a native-born Portlander who has been biking seriously since 1999, I think of myself as a bit of a rain expert. Today I'd like to share my field-tested tips on becoming a happy winter cyclist.

No two tours are the same, and so no two videos will tell the same story. But regardless of the specifics of your trip or your filming ambitions, the same key considerations will make your video project as successful as possible. Some of these considerations relate to the technical aspects of filmmaking, or of shot composition, editing software, and the like. But this kind of information is readily available, so I'd like to touch on something less-often mentioned but even more fundamental to success: the science of storytelling.

With 73 tours being offered by Adventure Cycling Association in 2013, it's easy to find your dream ride. Most people choose their dream ride by date or location; but sometimes mileage, touring style, or even difficulty level is more important.